Margin Call

There is a great scene in "Margin Call" where the CEO walks through the history of market crashes.  I finally wrote them down and looked them up.

• 1637 – Tulip Mania
• 1797 – Land panic speculation bubble in America and credit crisis in Britain
• 1819 – post-war of 812 reckless land speculation, bank credit expansion and falling cotton prices
• 1837 – Speculative land bubbles, easy credit, collapsing cotton prices and Jacksonian banking policies
• 1857 – Railroad speculation, banking instability and falling crop prices
• 1884 – Railroad investment losses, bank failures
• 1901 – Struggle for control of Pacific Railway
• 1907 – Failed attempt to corner the market on United Copper Company
• 1929 – Broad speculation in the market
• 1937 – Roosevelt Recession triggered by Fed doubling bank reserve requirements
• 1974 – OPEC oil embargo, high inflation, recession and political turmoil (Watergate)
• 1987 - Rising interest rates, trade deficits and rapid computerized trading
• 1992 – Black Wednesday (currency crisis where pound plummeted), Japan’s asset bubble bursing, Indian Stock Market Scam
• 2000 – Dot Com Bubble
• 2008 – Subprime mortgage crisis, burst housing bubble, excessive risk taking with complex derivatives (MBS, CDS)

I expected the speculation, but I did not expect the sector specificity particularly land, cotton and railroads.  I recall 1987, 2000 and 2008.  For some reason, I missed 1992.  The broad prosperity after 1937 shows that reasonable regulation works.